MIXED DAY FOR TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP
15 April 2005 - Suzuki Racing

Team SUZUKI MotoGP racers John Hopkins and Kenny Roberts Jr had differing outcomes from today''s practice sessions for this weekend''s MotoGP at Estoril in Portugal.

The morning session was interrupted by a heavy downfall that left all riders waiting for the track to dry out. When conditions improved it allowed just enough time for both Suzuki racers to temporarily top the time charts during the remainder of the disrupted session. The afternoon practice was free from any further rain, enabling both riders to work on race settings. The fastest time of the day was achieved by Honda''s Alex Barros.

Hopkins (1''39.769) was pleased with his day''s endeavours, having used the same Bridgestone front tyre for both sessions and various rear compounds to find the one he was happy with for the race. Hopkins said: ''I worked on my riding style and different lines here today, and getting the right settings for Sunday.

''Times mean nothing today, it''s all about getting things right. If I''d have put in some new rubber I know I would have recorded a faster time but that''s not what today is about - tomorrow''s for quick times!

''I''m really pleased with the bike, it felt good and so did I - the flu took a lot out of me in Jerez. We still have a couple of small things to work on in the morning but everything is looking good for qualifying and for racing.''

Roberts Jr (1''39.804) was thwarted in his attempts to test both of his Suzuki GSV-R prototype bikes - on different settings - by a series of unfortunate circumstances. Having missed most of the morning session because of the rain, Roberts Jr hoped to use the later period to its full extent to test the two bikes. This was not possible as a minor fault caused him to stop and cut short his attempts at a full comparison - despite his best efforts of running back to the garage to get out on the other bike as quickly as he could.

Roberts commented: ''I just seemed to have problems today, we had some big ideas for different settings that we wanted to try but because of the rain and the fault we didn''t get to do them. We will just have to see what tomorrow brings.''

Team Manager Paul Denning said: ''In this morning''s session, both riders were able to get to a decent pace within the 15 minutes available at the end. John is happy with his performance but he still has a few things to work on tomorrow to improve in the final sector of the lap.

''Kenny was unlucky this afternoon but I hope we will be able to make all the necessary improvements in time for Saturday''s qualifying.

''Both of the guys will be doing all they can to make sure the Suzuki GSV-R is near the front of tomorrow''s time-sheets.''

Team SUZUKI MotoGP has a further practice session on Saturday morning before an hour long qualifying period in the afternoon to determine grid positions for Sunday''s race that begins at 14.00CET (13.00 local time).

Portuguese Grand Prix Qualifying Practice Classification:
1. Alex Barros (Honda) 1''38.516: 2. Sete Gibernau (Honda) 1''39.065: 3. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1''39.072: 4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1''39.144: 5. Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1''39.200: 6. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1''39.446: 7. Max Biaggi (Honda) 1''39.477: 8. Shinya Nakano 1''39.535: 9.Tony Elias 1'' 39.732: 10. JOHN HOPKINS (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) 1''39.769: 11. KENNY ROBERTS JR (TEAM SUZUKI MOTOGP) 1''39.804:

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